Watered down tobacco bill vetoed

A controversial tobacco bill, that watered down anti-smoking regulations was vetoed by President Juan Carlos Varela on Thursday May 2.

Reina Roa, director of Planning and Coordinator of the Commission of Control of Tobacco of the Ministry of Health (Minsa), said that they requested the total veto of the project as it did not reflect the aspects of greater importance of the original document.

She added that the initiative in the end was establishing provisions that made the current legislation (Law 13 January 2008) lose strength and therefore, was step back in the implementation of the framework agreement of the World Health Organization, to control the tobacco and the protection of public health in our country.

The biggest problem of the project originated because it did not include essential regulations, such as simple packaging, the prohibition of adding menthol to tobacco products and provisions of the framework agreement of the World Health Organization that the country must regulate .